Four rivers and only one of them perennial: the district that was the military headquarters of the Zamorins

Background

Malappuram district covers about 3,550 square kilometres, which is 9.13 per cent of Kerala's total area and ranks third in the State. Four important rivers run through it, the Chaliyar, the Kadalundippuzha, the Bharathapuzha and the Tirurpuzha, and of these only the Chaliyar is perennial. Tirur and Ponnani taluks lie along its backwaters. The district was the military headquarters of the Zamorins of Kozhikode from ancient times, and it was the home of the Khilafath movement and of the Mappila revolts that challenged British authority.